Catholic san Francisco Northern California’s Weekly Catholic Newspaper
Bishops’ leader says growing ‘coarseness’ in society affects church
(CNS PHOTO/NANCY WIECHEC)
By Jerry Filteau
Bishop David A. Zubik of Green Bay, Wis., speaks in front of a depiction of the Crucifixion Nov. 13 in Baltimore during the U.S. bishops’ annual fall meeting.
BALTIMORE (CNS) — A growing “coarseness” in U.S. society has had its impact on the Catholic Church, Bishop William S. Skylstad of Spokane, Wash., warned the U.S. bishops as they began their fall national meeting Nov. 13 in Baltimore. Bishop Skylstad, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said the country has had a long history of vigorous, free exchange of ideas, but “there is a difference between spirited debate and debasing personal attacks.” “Today vulgarity is common, hardly noticed. Even the name of God is disrespected in everyday speech,” he said. “We confront this coarseness on a daily basis in the newspapers, on television and on the radio,” he said. “I would suggest to you that the phenomenon is symptomatic of a growing failure in our society: the lack of respect for one another, to see each other as being made in the image and likeness of God.” In film and on television, he added, “there is a cruel celebration of violence. There is a mocking reduction of sexuality, debasing it from God’s beautiful gift of creation to little more than casual chemistry and inconsequential recreation.” “It would be naive to think this descent into coarseness has neither social nor spiritual consequences,” he said. He said he sees it in harsh and divisive debates within the ‘COARSENESS’, page 8
Pope takes on hard questions in Muslim dialogue By John Thavis VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to Turkey Nov. 28-Dec 1 will include a meeting with Orthodox Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople in Istanbul. Yet the focus of the pope’s visit to Turkey likely will be the reception he receives from the leaders and people of this largely Muslim country. Certainly, Pope Benedict XVI’s remarks on Islam Sept. 12 in Regensburg, Germany opened a new chapter in the Vatican’s 40-year dialogue with the Muslim world and brought the pope’s own views on Islam into clearer focus. In the controversy that followed his speech, the pope told Muslim leaders there should be no doubt about his commitment to the dialogue launched by the Second Vatican Council or of his “esteem and profound respect” for Muslim believers. At the same time, the pope is not hes-
itating to raise some uncomfortable questions about the religious foundations of Islam and its cultural and political influences today. “It is important that (interreligious) dialogue take place with much patience, much respect and, most of all, in total honesty,” the pope wrote several years ago. For the pope, the honest approach to dialogue with Muslims means not simply talking about the shared belief in one
God but also facing sensitive issues like that of violence and religion. Against a backdrop of global tensions, the pope believes that question cannot be ignored and that moderate voices must be heard. “Many people, including the pope, are asking whether there is not perhaps a link between certain interpretations of the foundations and sources of Islam, and what is being done by Islamic extremists,” said Jesuit Father Christian W. Troll,
professor of Islamic studies at the Sankt Georgen Graduate School of Philosophy and Theology in Frankfurt, Germany. While the pope would not fall into the mistake of overly generalizing about radical Islam, he would like Muslim dialogue partners to take a closer look at the interpretation of the Islamic heritage, in particular those elements that can be misused in the direction of violence, Father Troll told Catholic News Service. In his first major encounter with Islamic representatives in 2005, the pope asked Muslim elders to make sure their young are formed in attitudes of tolerance and cooperation. “I am profoundly convinced that we must not yield to the negative pressures in our midst, but must affirm the values of mutual respect, solidarity and peace. The life of every human being is sacred, both for Christians and for Muslims,” he said. MUSLIMS, page 10
INSIDE THIS WEEK’S EDITION New Congress . . . . . . . . . . 3 News-in-brief. . . . . . . . . . 4-5
Scripture and Reflection Chinese Catholics
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U.S. Bishops meeting . . . . . 8 Senior Living. . . . . . . . 10-12 Commentary & letters . 14-15
~ Page 20 ~ Gift & Holiday Guide. . 18-19 Classified ads. . . . . . . . 22-23
~ Page 5 ~ November 17, 2006
‘Stranger than Fiction’
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